“Me, too,” Alexei replied. When she went to take the shirt off, he smirked and shook his head. “Keep it. I’ll just have to come back and get it from you later.”
She smiled at him, and Alexei allowed himself the luxury of leaning in for one last kiss that was all too brief.
An hour and a half later, he was sitting in the building manager’s office, completely dumbfounded. The security footage hadn’t shown much, just a man and a woman entering the elevator to go up to his floor and then using something to force their way in. They were inside his apartment for less than ten minutes before they were leaving again, right out the front door.
It was hard to get a clear view of their faces, but Alexei was pretty sure he’d never seen either of them before.
“Aren’t there supposed to be measures against this kind of thing?” he demanded. “I was under the impression that random people couldn’t just walk around this building as they pleased.” He hated that he sounded a bit like his father in all his commanding control, but it was a voice that always got results and that was what he needed at the moment.
“W-well,” the manager, whose name Alexei had already forgotten, said. “Th-there are. Measures. They were stopped at the door.”
“And yet there they are,” Alexei retorted, pointing to the screen where the image of them at his door was frozen. “Breaking into my place.”
“According to the night guard they said they were your relatives. They said…” he shuffled the papers in front of him, clearly looking for something. “They said they were your cousins and that they had to bring you something that your late father wanted you to have. And you know, they sounded like you. With the heavy accent. It seemed to check out.”
Alexei sucked in a short breath at that. As far as he knew, none of his cousins even knew where he lived and most of them had gone back to Russia after the funeral. None of them would have been bringing him anything from his father, though, that was for sure. The reading of the will had been private, and Alexei knew that he’d left everything in the care of his mother in the event that something might happen.
That sounded like a warning of some sort. Someone saying that they knew what had happened to his father.
He swore under his breath and got up from the chair he’d been sitting on in one decisive movement, just like he’d seen his father do plenty of times before when he wanted to end a meeting abruptly. “And that was just enough for you, wasn’t it? That it seemed to check out. I suggest you work on fixing these holes in your security,” he said, still channeling his father. “It would be a shame for the other residents to find out how easy it was for someone to break in here.”
Alexei let the threat linger as he headed out of the office and for the elevator, frowning the whole way up to the penthouse.
Someone had come along and fixed his door already since the police had already taken their pictures and dusted for prints and all. Who knew how long it would take for that information to come back, but Alexei was willing to bet that there wouldn’t be much gained from it. Amateurs didn’t mess with people like his family. They had too much to lose when they were caught inevitably.
A quick search of the place proved that they hadn’t taken anything.
All of his secret stashes of money were undisturbed, and the gun he kept locked up for if he ever needed it was still in its spot. Other than whatever they’d done to the door, there wasn’t anything out of place, and he had to wonder what they’d done in his apartment for the ten minutes they’d been in it.
“Probably just stood there and gloated the-” he swore violently in Russian and then pulled out his phone, scrolling until he found the number for his mother’s house.
Unfortunately, Vera picked up, which he already knew wasn’t going to do anything to help this situation.
“What do you want?” she said.
“I need to talk to Mother.”
“That’s new. You never want to talk to her. She has to call and call to get ahold of you. And after the stunt you pulled at dinner last week, I don’t think she’s going to want to talk to you at all.”
Alexei sighed. “You weren’t even there! How do you know what happened?”
“Mother told me.”
Of course she had. “Look, Vera. I know you think I’m a screw up or whatever, but this is important. I need to talk to Mother.”
“Oh, everything that has to do with you is important, isn’t it, Alexei? Never mind that Mother wants good things for you. That she’s going to all this trouble to find you a wife and help you take over the business. And you’re just sitting there like it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Because I don’t want it!” Alexei nearly shouted. “I don’t want it. I told her that you’d be better off in charge, but she’s set in her ways, and arguing with her is pointless. So don’t take this out on me. Now will you please go and tell her I need to talk to her. It’s about Father.”
Vera was quiet for a moment. “What about Father?”
“I think...I don’t know. Someone broke into my apartment this morning, and I think they know something about what happened to Father.”
His sister inhaled sharply at that, and Alexei wondered if he was the only one who was wondering about their father’s sudden death. “Hold on,” Vera said, and he could hear her calling for their mother in the background.
Alexei sighed and flopped onto his couch, wishing he’d had the forethought to prepare himself a drink before he made this call.
“What is it?” Veronika said sharply as she picked up the phone. “It’s quite rude of you to call in the middle of the morning and get your sister all worked up like that.”
He thought about pointing out the fact that his mother called him at all hours of the day or night when she wanted something, but he didn’t want to get into an argument with her. “I’m sorry, but this is important, Mother.” Alexei explained what had happened, including the part about the perpetrators making a comment about his father.
Veronika sniffed. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything. It was probably just one of your floozies who has taken exception to you. It wouldn’t surprise me if you let it slip to one of them about your father’s death and now they just want to mess with you.”
Yep. He definitely should have made a drink, eleven in the morning or not. “Mother. Are you hearing yourself? This wasn’t some amateur. This was a person who broke into my apartment. I have top of the line locks on my doors. Someone off the street wouldn’t be able to do that, and they wouldn’t have known about Father. Don’t you think… Don’t you think that maybe there’s something else going on here? Maybe Father’s death wasn’t an accident.”
His mother was quiet for a long moment, and Alexei thought that maybe she was finally hearing him and taking him seriously. And then she spoke again. “And so what if it wasn’t?” she said quietly. “Your father was a powerful man. A rich man. You do not get to be where your father was without making enemies. Without there being people who want you dead. He knew the risks. We all did.”
Cold horror curled up Alexei’s spine to hear his mother speaking so matter of factly about this. As if her husband possibly being murdered was just par for the course. “And so, what? It doesn’t matter to you that someone could have staged all this? That they could be coming after all of us?”
“We have people looking out for us,” Veronika said. “This is the price of business, Alexei. I suggest you get used to it.”
“Never,” he said vehemently. “I will never do business like that. Not if it means gambling with my life, with my family’s lives. That’s horrible.”
“You are a child,” she said. “You are a child, and your father would be ashamed.”
“Would he? It seems pretty hard for him to feel anything when he’s dead. But you don’t care about that, do you? Because that’s just business.” And he ended the call, chest heaving and heart heavy.
Chapter 9: When You’re Waiting
It was another week
before Emma saw Alexei again. She didn’t want to admit that she was nervous, but well. She was. Even though they’d spent time together and slept together, she still didn’t know how she felt about him. Part of her thought it would be easier if he just stayed away. Then she could lump him in with the rest of the jerks with too much money, and be done with it.
But, of course, the part of her that wanted him to call or come see her was much bigger. It was the part that was willing to admit that she was attracted to him and that she wanted to see where things would go.
On Tuesday, Patricia commented on the fact that it had been a while since the two of them had hung out and asked if she wanted to do something after work, so the two of them went shopping and then had dinner, which was normal for them.
Apparently, Emma was distracted through most of it, and Patricia arched an eyebrow over her ravioli. “Who are you looking for?”
“What? No one. What?” Emma said, flustered as she twirled fettuccine around on her plate. “Why would I be looking for someone?”
“You keep glancing at the door and then around at the other people here like you’re looking for someone.” Her friend pointed out. “That’s definitely suspicious behavior, especially from you, you know.”
Emma made a face at that. It wasn’t her fault that they’d ended up at the first restaurant she and Alexei had eaten at together. And it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t stop thinking about what they’d done in his car in the parking lot. Or that she couldn’t stop wondering if her habit of running into him all over the place would hold true here, as well.
Wondering. Not hoping.
“It’s nothing,” Emma said, hoping that would be the end of it.
“Right,” Patricia replied. “You’re hiding something from me. I can’t believe it. We’re supposed to be friends, Em!”
She sounded more amused than upset about it, but Emma sighed all the same. She’d been keeping Alexei to herself for the most part because she didn’t know what was going on or what she wanted to be going on. The prospect of having another opinion and someone to talk to about it was too good to pass up.
So she let the story spill out of her, telling Patricia all about how she’d been running into him everywhere and how he talked so nice to her and was funny and smart and intriguing. She talked about how she was drawn to him and how she couldn’t stop wondering if he was as drawn to her or if he just liked that she couldn’t get enough.
She talked until the waiter had come to clear away their plates, pausing to order carrot cake for dessert, and by the time she was done and felt better, she was licking icing off of her fork.
Patricia stared at her, not having touched her tiramisu as she’d listened, eyes wide. “I knew you liked him,” was the first thing she said.
“Patricia,” Emma groaned. “That isn’t helping.”
“What do you want me to say?” Patricia asked. “I mean, if you want to see him, why don’t you just text him? I know you have his number. I saw the card. Just text him and ask if he wants to hang out or something. Maybe he’s just as confused as you are.”
Emma snorted at the notion. “Yeah, right. I don’t think he gets confused. He’s used to having whatever he wants. So if he wants me, why isn’t he...you know.”
“Having you?” Patricia asked with a grin. “Maybe he’s waiting to see if you want to be had.”
As annoying as it was to admit, her friend had a point. It wasn’t fair of her to expect Alexei to do all the reaching here. Especially considering the fact that he’d been worried about someone breaking into his apartment the last time she’d seen him.
She should have sent him a message that same day to make sure everything was alright.
Knowing what she needed to do and doing it were apparently two very different things, and it took her until Friday to work up the nerve to send what she hoped was a casual message.
Sam’s tonight?
She’d deliberated for long minutes about whether or not to add a smiley face, but ultimately decided against it. That seemed too needy. This way it just seemed like she was curious about whether or not she’d see him. Not like she was hoping she would.
Which was good, since Alexei didn’t even bother to text her back.
Imagine her surprise, then, when later that night he flopped onto the stool next to her and rested his head on the polished wood of the bar. “Sam,” he called pitifully. “Do you have anything for stress?”
Sam chuckled and gave him a once over, apparently not surprised to see him. “Tequila?” he asked, already reaching for the bottle.
“Sure, why not?” Alexei mumbled and then looked at Emma. “Hello.”
Emma, for her part, was rigid with surprise. She’d assumed that his lack of response to her text had meant that she wouldn’t see him, either that night or ever again, but there he was, giving her that little smile as if it hadn’t been days since they’d last spoken.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
He frowned. “It’s Friday. We come here on Fridays.”
And yes, for the last couple of weeks that had been true, but… “I didn’t think you were coming. You didn’t reply to my text.”
“Oh. Apologies, Emma. I am just very bad at replying to messages. You can ask my mother.”
There was a bitterness to his voice when he said that, and Emma let go of her annoyance and just accepted the fact that she was happy to see him. It was easier, and sometimes she just wanted to do the thing that was easy.
“It’s alright,” she said, and petted his head, finding that she’d missed the way his hair felt between her fingers. “So what happened with your apartment?”
He groaned again, but told her the story, pausing to accept his shot from Sam and request another. By the time he came to the end of, she could sort of understand why she hadn’t heard from him since then.
“Wow. And your mom just...doesn’t care?”
Alexei shrugged. “So it seems. Apparently that’s just how business works.” He knocked back his second shot and sighed, seeming to consider whether or not he was going to ask for another. Emma realized that she hadn’t seen him drunk or hungover in all the time they’d been spending together, and she thought that was promising. But she also thought that finding out that your mother wasn’t really bothered that your father was probably murdered was cause to drink. So she summoned Sam herself.
Alexei’s smile was grateful, and when he leaned over to kiss her cheek, Emma smiled back.
It was a good beginning, she thought. They still didn’t know where they stood in terms of what they were doing or what they were, and they were both busy people. She had her work, and Alexei had told her that he was going to try and figure out what was going on with these people who’d wanted his father dead as well as keep learning more about the family business.
“If I have to take it over, things are going to change,” he’d told her, determination flaring in those eyes.
Somehow their usual weekends together started to extend into the weeknights, as well. One of them would turn up at the other’s home after a full day, and they’d get take out or one of them would cook, and then they’d talk about their day. It felt like a relationship as Emma knew them to be, but neither of them had said the word yet, and she was beginning to wonder if they ever would.
That was fine, though. It was fine. What they had was plenty good without dragging labels into it, and Emma didn’t want to ruin anything by bringing it up.
Not when she got to spend nights with Alexei the way they spent them. Full of passion and mutual wanting. Sometimes he would push her up against the wall and just kiss her for long minutes, hands roaming. Sometimes she would take papers and files or his laptop from him and climb into his lap, hands sliding under his shirt while she kissed and nipped at his neck.
Labels or no, she felt freer to be herself with him than she had with anyone else in recent memory.
She felt completely comfortable with attacking him when he came o
ut of the shower, pouncing on him and toppling them both onto the bed, fingers tangled in his damp hair. When he smiled and kissed her neck, she grinned, laughing softly. There hadn’t been much forethought behind her actions, mostly she just wanted to be touching him, but when his towel fell away, revealing that he was half hard and delectable looking, she suddenly had a lot of ideas about what she wanted to do.
Emma pressed a hand to his chest and pushed him flat against the bed, kissing her way down his body from his mouth to his neck to each perfect collar bone, fingers sliding ahead to touch damp skin and chase errant beads of water.
She licked his nipples and teased them with her teeth, enjoying the sounds he made for her when she did so. He was delightfully responsive, which helped give her the confidence to do this.
Her lips brushed over his stomach from his chest, and she dragged her tongue around his navel and then down to that delicious vee at his hips, watching with interest as his cock twitched and jerked, clearly wanting to remind her that it was still there and eager for attention. She smiled and bypassed it for the moment, kissing each hip bone and then lower, following the trail of dark hair down.
“Tease,” Alexei huffed.
“Impatient,” Emma chided, grinning up at him. But she took him in her hand and stroked slowly from base to tip, twisting her hand and enjoying the groan Alexei gave in response.
She lowered her head and pressed a kiss to the head of his length before wrapping her hand loosely around the root and giving in to what he clearly wanted, licking him in long strokes like he was her favorite treat. He tasted like clean skin and warm water, and she savored it for a bit before opening her mouth wider and letting the tip push inside. Emma sucked on the head briefly before she pushed downward, taking in more.
Alexei hissed with pleasure and tangled his fingers in her hair. She could feel him trying to keep his hips still, and she smirked, enjoying the effect she was having.
Honestly, she would do this every chance she got. Emma loved the way he felt in her mouth, thick and getting thicker, hot and heavy, pressing against her tongue and towards the back of her throat as she worked him deeper.
Crash into Me: A BWWM Russian Billionaire Romance Page 9
